Li Auto shares plunged nearly 14% on Monday, partly influenced by analysts’ bleak forecasts for the order intake of the company’s first battery electric vehicle model, the Mega. The vehicle was unveiled on March 1 with a higher-than-expected price tag of RMB 559,800 ($77,756). As of Monday, Li Auto received 8-9 non-refundable orders for the Mega per shop, according to Sun Shaojun, founder of consumer behavior research agency CarFans. He mentioned that rivals are “experiencing a return of customers” for similar offerings after the product launch. With a network of 467 retail locations as of December, Li Auto has accumulated a backlog of around 4,000 non-refundable orders over the weekend. In comparison, Aito, a premium EV brand launched by Huawei and its manufacturing partner Seres, reported over 20,000 pre-orders with non-refundable deposits for its RMB 469,800-priced, full-size M9 crossover two days after the launch on Dec. 28. Jefferies analysts, on Sunday, “conservatively” estimated monthly sales of the Mega to reach 3,000 units, significantly lower than the company’s delivery outlook of 8,000 units. [Sun Shaojun post, in Chinese, TechNode reporting]
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